I am back to square one on my review writing. Back to a mobile phone review. But this time, it?s more of an analysis than a review on a particular product. Actually this is how I rate mobile phones in the market.
Warning:
I have a serious bias towards Nokia phone, as they dominate the market. I never used to use Nokia phone as I was in a feeling that they are monopolizing the market. Then came my 7650 and I knew why they dominate the market. This review will also be biased towards Symbian Operating system based phones.
When choosing a mobile phone, there are various factors or variables, which you have to consider.
Usage:
Whether it?s for you or for someone else and how the mobile will be used. If the mobile is primarily for talking only, then the keypad is not a big consideration. If it?s for talking and messaging then the keypad is of a larger consideration. Also the way the predictive text works. There are two well known predictive text formats:
T9 and the iTap. There is no much difference between the two though. T9 is the one in Nokia, Samsung and other handsets and iTap is proprietary for Motorola based handsets. The best keypad for sending messages I have ever seen is the LG RD2030. Then comes the Nokia 3310.
When the talking is a consideration the reception is also a factor. Nokia beats its competition hands down on reception but the Sony Ericsson is the best on voice clarity. Even at very low signals, the voice does not ’’break’’ in a Sony Ericsson phone, but the reception is very bad (At places with very low signals, Sony Ericsson does not pick up any network while the Nokia picks up signals so that you can at least message). Reception in a Samsung phone is also very good.
Weight and Size:
Yes. Nokia is Human technology, but you have phone, which are smaller and lighter in your pockets than a Nokia Phone. SE (Sony Ericsson) T100/105 is the smallest, lightest and the best-looking phone you can ever have. Now Samsung has come out with its slim version of phones. Panasonic’s GD 55 was the world’s smallest phone until they introduced the A100, which fits into the small pocket in your jeans!!! Nokia doesn’t have such small phones, but a 3120 or a 3100 is considerably lighter than the other phones of Nokia.
Display:
Color or a black and white display
When you buy a phone, most of the people think that a b&w display will be more than enough till they see the phone, which his neighbor has which has a color display. A color display is very nice to look at. Yeah it comes with a price tag. But these days, there are phone for less than Rs.5000, which have color display. When you buy a color display phone, you have to choose the number of colors it will display and the screen size. The options in this are:
4 colors - presently I don’t remember any phone which has this. Siemens had a model.
16 colors - Same here. I don’t remember any phone.
256 colors - Most famous is the Sony Ericsson T310.
4096 colors - Nokia 6610, 7650, 6220, Motorola C450
65000 colors - Nokia 6600, 6230, Sony Ericsson T610, Samsung C100, X100, Motorola Mpx200, A768
256000 colors - Samsung D410, O2, Sendo X
Backlight:
This is an option when you choose a black and white display. The backlight can be green/orange/yellow depending on the phone. A blue light was well publicized and looks great. Now the fashion is the white light (also called the moon light by LG). A white light has the brightest display. Nokia 1100 is green backlight and 1108 is white backlight. All color phones come with a white backlight
Display Type:
There are two types of displays in an LCD. Passive matrix and an active matrix.
CSTN: (color super-twist nomadic) display has a slow response time and gives ghost displays. But it?s the cheapest to produce. So low-end color models usually have this kind of display. This is a Passive matrix LCD.
TFT: (thin film transistor) this is the latest development and all the higher end models have this display. A very sharp display and nice to look at. It?s also called the Active matrix LCD.
Form Factor:
Form factor is the physical style of the phone. They are categorized into three types.
Candy bar or the block: This is the usual type of phone with display and keypad on one frame. A Nokia 3310 is a Block type of phone.
Flip: This is identical to the block type, but the keypad is covered with a cover, which also has the mice. If you have to dial you have to do it the James Bond style. Ericsson T28 (James Bond phone) is a famous flip style phone.
Folder or the Clamshell: In this, the display is on one frame and the keypad is on the other. Sony Ericsson Z600 is a famous example.
Camera:
People usually ask on why a camera in a mobile phone. No one has the answer. But its there and its for good. I have used it in several occasions when I forgot to take my digi cam on hand. You never know when there will be a ’’special moment’’ to capture and your phone is one thing which will always be there with you. So at least you can capture those ’’special moments’’, in whatever resolution possible. There are three types of cameras in a mobile phone.
Pixels are picture elements. The resolution is mentioned in Vertical and Horizontal figures.
CIF Camera: CIF (Common Intermediate Format) will have a resolution of 352 x 288 pixels.
QVGA Camera (Quick Video Graphics Array Format) will have a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels.
VGA Camera (Video Graphics Array Format) will have a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels.
Then we have cameras with better resolutions these days, which are basically improvements of the VGA camera. There is also the latest phone from Nokia (7610), which has a 1.3 mega pixel camera. The mega pixel is the resolution multiplied (horizontally and vertically) 1 million pixels make a mega pixel. The usual calculation is as follows:
1 Mega pixel = 800 x 600 pixels and the corresponding print size can be 4 x 6’’
2 Mega pixels = 1024 x 768 pixels and the corresponding print size can be 5 x 7’’
3 Mega pixels = 1600 x 1200 pixels and the corresponding print size can be 8 x 10’’
Ringtones:
You have two options in this.
Monophonic: It is the different kinds beep, which is produced by the phone to ring. A
monophonic ringtone is present in basic phone models like a Nokia 5110, 3310 etc.
Polyphonic: This is the latest development in ringtone technology. A polyphonic ringtone is rated on the number of instruments or channels it can emulate simultaneously. They are 4 channels - Nokia 6610, 24 channels - Nokia 6600, 32 channels - Sony Ericsson T610 and 64 channels in a Samsung D410. These are basically MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files, which are played. And when the number of channels increases, it depends on the phone; on what all channels it plays. For example, you may not hear one channel, which plays in a SE on a Nokia.
Continued...
Part II
https://mouthshut.com/review/Choosing_a_Mobile_Phone-68426-1.html